A guide to Britain's best craft shops

Where to find craft supplies throughout the country

Where can you can browse for beautiful craft supplies, get inspiration for new projects, ask experts for tips and chat to other crafters? Here are some of the country's must-visit craft shops, from the famous institutions to unique, charming boutiques.

 

All-round craft shops
If you want to take up a new craft, but aren't sure what, visiting a craft superstore is sure to give you plenty of creative ideas. Hobbycraft is the craft equivalent of Tesco, visit one of its chain of warehouse-like shops dotted all over the UK, and you'll find hundreds of crafting activities from  represented from calligraphy and glass painting to mosaic and card-making. The store also runs craft demonstrations, and stocks books, magazines and free project ideas.

 

If you prefer somewhere on a more personal, traditional scale, The Amoré Group shop in Leek, Staffordshire, brings yarns, textile arts and beading all under one roof for crafters who love all three. And family-run arts and crafts store Fred Aldous, in Manchester, has been selling a huge variety of craft materials since the 1920s. Here you can browse for supplies for everything from candle-making to woodcraft to metalwork.

 

For general art supplies, try out Millers Creativity Shop in Glasgow, a 6.5,000 sq. ft. emporium with one of the biggest collections of paints, brushes, art paper and everything else an artist could desire. In London, Atlantis Art Materials is another vast art supplies shop, while Greene & Stone's, also in London, is a historic art shop with everything from print-making equipment to easels.

 

Textiles
If sewing is your thing, you simply have to make a pilgrimage to the haberdashery floor at Liberty's department store in London. It sells some of the most exquisite printed patterns in the world, from the famous Liberty designs to florals, and the polite staff are often true experts. The superb quality of the prints mean colours are exceptionally rich - unfortunately, that's reflected in the cost of fabrics!

 

Another London must-do that's on the pricey side, but makes for hours of browsing at the very least, is Cloth House, which has two branches on Soho's Berwick Street, itself a haven for fabric shops. Go to the branch at no. 47 for a slightly cheaper, stunning collection of cottons, linens and other daily-use fabrics, as well as one of the most eye-catching collections of embroidered ribbons we've ever seen. But if it's bargains and sheer choice you're after, you can't do better than the smorgasbord of ultra-cheap and cheerful fabric shops around Goldhawk Road tube station.

 

John Lewis, with branches around the country, has haberdashery departments which also sell sewing machines. For an Aladdin's cave of ribbons, trimmings and tassels, also visit VV Rouleaux. Their London stores aren't big, but they are crammed with a fine selection of unusual ribbon.

 

Want to get really creative with textiles? Visit Rainbow Silks, in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire. It's a general craft store but has an unusually wide range of supplies for silk painting, batik, fabric printing and other methods of textile decoration. Or try something completely different, like lacemaking - at The Honiton Lace Shop in Devon, you can buy lace-making kits and lace-making equipment by appointment only.

 

Knitting and crochet
Browsing for yarns is one of the best things about doing knitting and crochet! Here are a few of our favourites stores, all of which also have classes and knitting groups. Loop, in London, is tiny and always crammed on weekends, but stocks some of the dreamiest colours and textures of yarn around, with prices to match. Just behind Waterloo Station, I Knit is a self-declared sanctuary for knitters. The late-opening shop not only has gorgeous yarns and spinning sessions, but its own licensed bar, where it hosts regular knitting get-togethers. Fibre and Clay in Knutsford, Cheshire, is another popular and charming treasure trove of carefully-chosen yarns.

 

Beads and buttons
Do you love beads and precious stones, and want to make jewellery? The Bead Shop in London is well known for its vast collection of beads and gemstones over two floors. In Edinburgh and nearby Haddington, The Bead Shop Scotland's two shops also sell everything needed to make gorgeous jewellery, from Czech glass to Swarovski crystals, as well as jewellery-making kits, books and magazines. If it's buttons you're looking for, The Button Queen in London stocks a wide variety of styles, including antique. Their services also include button and buckle covering.

Papercraft
Paper-lovers are guaranteed to be entranced by Shepherds in London. It has a unique range of high quality, delicate papers from all over the world in every imaginable texture and pattern. Here you'll find marbled, silk and wax papers, along with Japanese and other handmade Asian papers, as well as the perfect tools from scissors to adhesives and albums. The shop also sells bookbinding tools, materials and equipment.

In Stroud. Paperarts is a haven for scrapbookers and card-makers which hosts regular ‘cropping' sessions for paper-crafters to work side by side.

 

Clay, wood, stone and model-making
For materials for pottery and ceramics, sculpture or wood- or stone-carving, check out Tiranti, with shops in Thatcham, Berkshire, and central London. It's been selling equipment and tools for all kinds of casting, carving and model-making since 1895. Here, you can find just the right tools for clay modelling, woodcarving and stonecarving, and all kinds of clays, glazes, kilns, wheels, waxes, plasters and resins, as well as rubber for mouldmaking, paints, craft knives and finishes.

If you're into model-making, go to Hobbies in Dereham, Norfolk, where you can buy kits to make everything from clocks to model boats to toys, along with all the necessary tools, as well as kits suitable for children. And for something unique, why not get into dolls' house-making? At The Dolls House Emporium - with twin stores in Ripley, Derbyshire, and Houghton Hall, Cumbria - you can buy a dolls' house-making kit and all the accessories to decorate your finished house!


By Olivia Gordon